Night feeds

[mummywanabe]

Hi for anyone on to their second plus baby what is the best way to share night feeds we have a 3 year old who is a bundle of energy, I will be bottle feeding new baby just wondering if there's any tips you could share on how you fed baby ? Prevoiously I would do a feed then hubby then me and so I but either way we both ended up awake and exhausted so just wondering how you guys worked it or plan to?

 

[Holi]

So I have a 3yr3m and a 7m old. I have and still do all getting ups in the night. To be honest, even in early weeks of second being born I didn't find it as much as a shock to the system as when we had first. I think cos I was in mummy mode! And use to not as much sleep! My eldest goes to nursery two days a week and in the first few months I used those days to nap when baby napped etc which helped a lot. Our second baby got into quiet a good routine with having blocks of 2/3hrs between feeds pretty quickly so I always got some sleep, be it broken!

I think if I had shared the night feeds with hubby I would maybe take it in turns so that every other night you are getting good sleep. And then on weekends on when able, the person that got the sleep gets up with the kids and lets the person that did the feeding through the night have an hour or two lie in! Xx

 

[KateK]

With our first we did what you did - I took one and he took the next - but as you say I never slept well even when he was doing them as I was wondering how the baby was and whether he was coping!! Alternating nights as Holi suggested may work better as you could probably switch off more easily knowing it's your night 'off'? I am praying breastfeeding works this time round so have resigned myself to all the night feeds which i'm quite content with.. I have said however that if and when my 4 (will nearly be 5 by Jan) year old gets up that's all on him as I can't do 2x the wakings! xx

 

[mummywanabe]

Yeh I think it's just trying to find the best routine to suit us if baby comes when she's supposed to my hubby will have 4 weeks off due to paternity leave and Christmas so hopefully by the time he goes back to work we will be a little more settled

 

[entre]

I did all wake ups and feeds 24/7 until DD didnt require a night feed anymore.
My partner has sleep apnea so can be very bad for his health if he doesnt get sufficient amount of sleep - also DVLA would remove his driving license if he hasnt used his breathing machine at least 7 hours a night - so Im prepared to suffer with DS when he arrives.
Tiring , but guess thats why we get 9 months and they get a 2 weeks lol.

 

[Babygiz]

We have a 10 week old and a 3 year who is very active. I have done all the night feeds but on a weekend when hubby is off he gets up with our 3. Year old and let's me sleep longer. It is exhausting as I do the school nursery run each day also but I've found I've just got used to it.

 

[russellmuscle]

I'm quite lucky in a sense that although my almost now 4 year old is physically and mentally demanding. Once the clock strikes 8pm he's down. Sometimes earlier so during the night with him is fine he has his own room and hasn't woken so far with the new addition.

Basically I do the feeds because I wake anyway. OH can sleep through but I just lie awake when he did take a turn and be checking and would ultimately ask for him back. So I do the feeds. When I do his last feed I put him down, go make up another and pop it in the thermal bottle cover thing to keep it warm so that when he wakes in 3-4hr it's still warm and ready for him. I also only change him if he's pooped or needs changed but that's rare.

My LO is coming up 5w and despite having colic and reflux he does settle relatively easy so I don't have a super hard time at night. He's going 4-5hr stretches at night and 3 during the day.

He's right next to me in his moses so when he wakes I wake right away and feed is there and he's back down so I'm usually only awake half hour. But also when OH is off he will wake in the morning and take a shot of LO and take care of my eldest.

You do take time to adjust. The first few weeks the exhaustion killed but thankfully I have good support and by time OH went back to work we had semi sorted a routine where I knew when he was due to eat.

If I'm particularly tired I'll go to bed early. OH doES the last feed and by the time Carter wakes I've had a few hours sleep atleast. We also have a perfect prep which we can now use that he is taking 4oz so if you have one of these imagine they'll make the nights easier.

Good luck.

xxxxx

 

[KateK]

Oh bless him he sounds like an absolute dream!! Poppy would poo with every night feed so then un-swaddling and clothing her got her so riled it took ages to get her back down.. All the memories are flooding back I spent at least 50% of every night awake!

 

[mummywanabe]

My son was a nightmare he also had colic and reflux we would have to wind him so long that by the time we got him down it was almost time for another feed

 

[BunnyN]

One thing I didnt expect with our second is that after the first couple of weeks to recover and settle in having two was actually easier than being pregnant with one. I'm hoping it will be similar with 3 . I breastfed so have always done the majority of night waking. DS tends to get up early so OH often gets up in the morning with him so I can sleep another hour or so which is a big help.

 

[MrsMcc]

I do all night feeds. I have a 4yr old who has 4-5 get ups, 2.5yr old that talks and shouts in her sleep and a 10 week old with a milk allergy who's up every hour